title: Effect of prenatal malnutrition on cortical reactivity of the rat parietal association area.
abstract: The influence of prenatal malnutrition on the reactivity of the rat parietal association cortex was studied by testing thresholds of direct cortical responses. Chronic and acute prenatal starvation caused a significant increase of cortical chronaxy values, indicating a detrimental effect on the axodendritic synapses. Since these synapses subserve cortico-cortical influxes underlying association processes, this detrimental effect could be correlated with behavioral and learning deficits found in malnutrition.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats